its passage led by then-senator joe biden, was a watershed moment in our history. in the years since, we have come together in a bipartisan way to re-authorize and expand the reach of this law. now we must do it again. the last congress had the opportunity to take this action. the senate passed a strong bill with a bipartisan vote of 68-31. 68-31. yet house republicans refused to bring the senate's bipartisan bill to the floor, leaving millions without a critical line of defense against domestic violence. this congress has a chance to correct the mistake without further delay. today with 158 co-sponsors and counting, that's in the house, including every woman democrat in the house, democrats are re-introducing the re-authorization of the violence against women act which would expand protections to lgbt, immigrants and native americans. this has bipartisan support in the senate, including key women senators. it is bipartisan. and time for the house republicans to join suit and join the senate in a bipartisan backing of this measure. failure to enact this bill would